However, the police managed to get released the onion laden truck from their possession and arrested three robbers. The truck later left for its destination in Meerut.

The robbers were in a red-beacon vehicle and they stopped the Meerut-bound truck and hijacked it at gunpoint, said the police. The incident took place near Shahpura village on the Delhi-Jaipur highway, added the police.

In the national capital, retail prices have come down to Rs 60 per kg on Monday from Rs 80 per kg last week, while wholesale prices at Lasalgoan in Nashik district of Maharashtra have fallen to Rs 35.65 per kg.

Onion prices are likely to be under pressure till October when the new crop is expected to hit the market. India has exported 5,11,616 tonnes of onion amounting to Rs 776.47 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal against 5,17,274 tonnes in the year-ago period, as per official data.

According to the Nashik-based National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF), the area under onion crop is down by 10 percent from 10.87 lakh hectares this year.